gundamfandomcom-20200223-history
MSN-04II Nightingale
The MSN-04II Nightingale is an alternate interpretation of the MSN-04 Sazabi featured in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beltorchika's Children. The unit is piloted by Char Aznable. Technology & Combat Characteristics Although it is a mobile suit, the Nightingale's specifications are comparable to that of a Newtype-use mobile armor. Aside from being very large, this psycoframe equipped MS also features many weapons, including 10 funnels, a mega beam rifle, a pair of vulcan cannons, a beam cannon, two beam sabers, and a shield which carries a beam tomahawk and several micro missiles. The Nightingale also has a pair of hidden arms mounted behind the front skirt armor, a pair of back-mounted vernier binders to ensure the large suit's high mobility, and five propellant tanks (three on the backpack and two underneath the rear skirt armor) to fuel its large number of thrusters. This monstrous masterpiece of Mobile Suit technology represented the pinnacle of Char's personal combat style, and was a perfect match for the also extremely powerful RX-93-ν2 Hi-ν Gundam. Armaments ;*Beam Saber :The Nightingale is equipped with a pair of beam sabers, one stored in each forearm for quick deployment in combat. The beam sabers serve as one of the two close combat weaponry of the Nightingale, and is a beam of plasma contained by an I-field that can cut through any metal alloy not treated with anti-beam coating. ;*Funnel :One of the most powerful features of any psycommu-equipped mobile suit is the use of remote weapons, funnels in the case of the Nightingale. Because the psycoframe amplifies the psycowave of Newtypes, the funnels can be remote controlled from the mobile suit without guide wires and without the threat of being jammed by Minovsky particles or other electronic counter measures. Because of their small size, funnels are difficult to see and detect, making them extremely difficult to avoid for even skilled pilots. Funnels are typically powered by a energy capacitor which holds a limited charge, once the charge runs out, the funnel must return to a recharge rack or else it becomes useless. Similarly the funnel holds its own propellant, which once it runs out renders a funnel as a useless piece of drifting debris. Of course because of the funnel's low mass its propellant use is relatively efficient. The MSN-04II Nightingale is equipped with ten funnels that are smaller versions of those used by NZ-333 α Azieru. Compared with the funnels used by NZ-222 Psyco Doga, these funnels are stronger and have a longer operating time. The ten funnels are stored on the racks on top of the back-mounted vernier binders, five per binder, where they can recharge their energy and propellant. ;*Mega Beam Rifle :One of the Nightingale's standard hand carried armaments is a large mega beam rifle. This powerful rifle is exceptionally large, being at least as long as the Nightingale is tall (22.5 meters) if not longer. The mega beam rifle has a power rating of 8.8 MW, and can fire three types of beam, the standard tightly focused beam, a high output beam that is comparable in power to one from a mega bazooka launcher, and a scattershot-like beam blast that has a high rate of fire and is useful during close to mid-range combat. The foldable bipod at the front of the rifle is used during precise, long range attacks. ;*Shield :As with most mobile suits, the Nightingale can mount a shield on its left forearm. The Nightingale's custom shield is made of gundarium alloy. The shield serves partially as an offensive weapon as it mounts three micro missiles that can heavily damage a mobile suit but not a battleship. The shield also stores the Nightingale's beam tomahawk. :;*Micro Missile ::Stored on the shield, the micro missiles' targets can be programmed by the pilot during firing. The micro missiles can then recognize their targets using optical means and be guided towards them. :;*Beam Tomahawk ::The Nightingale can be equipped with a hand-held beam tomahawk, stored behind the mobile suit's shield. The beam tomahawk is the Nightingale's most powerful melee weapon and mounts two beam emitters. Taking advantage of the flexibility of the I-field, and its ability to shape plasma, the beam tomahawk can either emit a pair of beam axe blades, or combine its output to form a single large beam saber. ;*Vulcan Cannon :Mounted on either side of the chest, these pair of vulcan cannons are shell firing mid to close range weapons added to boost the suit's defensive capabilities. ;*Beam Cannon :The Nightingale has a hidden beam cannon mounted in the center of its chest. This beam cannon is revealed when the lower chest armor is lowered. Special Equipment & Features ;*External Propellant Tank (Non-ejectable) :Hidden within the Nightingale's rear skirt armor are a pair of large external propellant tanks. These tanks hold a large amount of propellant used to fuel the suit's massive array of thrusters for an extended period of time. These tanks can not be ejected once emptied. ;*External Propellant Tank (Ejectable) :The MSN-04II Nightingale can mount three propellant tanks between its primary backpack thrusters to extend its operational flight time. Each one of these external propellant tanks are not even half of the size of the tanks hidden in the rear skirt armor, however once emptied they can be ejected so as not to weigh the mobile suit down. ;*Psycoframe Cockpit :The Psycoframe is a technology that builds the brainwave-to-machine code translator known as Psycommu into the atom-level of the metal frame of a Mobile Suit. This allows a Newtype pilot to control the mobile suit as if it were his/her own body. ;*Sub-Arms :The concept of sub-arms is to add additional fully functional arms, hidden within the mobile suit's armor when not in use, that allows the mobile suit to use additional hand-held weapon up to the number of sub-arms its possesses. As mobile suits are complicated machines to operate, therefore adding sub-arms only adds to that complexity, and thus far sub-arms have only been seen on Newtype use mobile suits that have some sort of system similar to a psycommu. The MSN-04II Nightingale has two sub-arms hidden behind its front skirt armor. History After Char Aznable, the legendary Zeon ace, reappears in the early UC 0090s and establishes the second Neo Zeon movement, he commissions Anaheim Electronics to produce a custom-designed mobile suit built specifically for his Newtype abilities and superb piloting skills. Painted in his trademark red color scheme and insignia, this machine is the MSN-004II Nightingale. As is Char's fighting style, he lead his forces from the front with his personal mobile suit. Char's strategy for the Second Neo Zeon War is to force humanity into space by dropping asteroids onto the Earth to create a nuclear winter. The Earth Federation's Londo Bell task force leads the fight against Neo Zeon, deploying mobile suits and nuclear missiles to destroy the asteroids. However, Char plans to use his Nightingale and force of AMS-119 Geara Dogas to guard the asteroids until they reach the point where nothing would be able stop them. In the final battle, Char in his Nightingale would duel his archrival, Londo Bell's Lt. Amuro Ray, in his RX-93-ν-2 Hi-ν Gundam. The battle is fierce, but the outcome is the same as in Char's Counterattack. The Hi-Nu Gundam's psychoframe resonates with high emotions, pushing Amuro's Newtype powers to new heights and repelling Axis away from the planet. The resonance creates a light that can be seen from Earth. Gallery 3092987669_dc833faa5b_o.jpg|Yutaka Izubuchi's illustration of Neo Zeon MS from Beltorchika's Children. From top: Nightingale, Psycho Doga, and Geara Doga (F-Type) Nightingale.jpg|Illustration by Yutaka Izubuchi 04II Yanase.jpg|Illustration by Takayuki Yanase Beltorchika's Children Yanase 01.jpg|Illustration by Takayuki Yanase Beltorchika's Children Yanase 03.jpg|Illustration by Takayuki Yanase Beltorchika's Children Yanase 02.jpg|Lineart illustration by Takayuki Yanase BIG G.jpg|"Return of Big G - 1989 10th Anniversary" illustration by Hiroaki Gohda (Newtype magazine, 1989). From left: Nightingale, S Gundam, and G-3 MSGCCABC-GA140703.jpg|Nightingale as featured in Beltorchika's Children manga Games gun 4.jpg|Nightingale as featured in Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost Maxi Boost Nightingale.png|As seen on Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON extreme 2 Nightingale.png|Nightingale in Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme VS. 2 Nightingale-profile.jpg|Nightingale (video game version) in different views Gundam Diorama Front 3rd MSN-04II Nightingale.png|As seen on the game Gundam Diorama Front 3rd. Gundam Online Nightingale.png|As seen on Gundam Online Wars game. Super Gundam Royale Nightingale.png|As seen on Super Gundam Royale game Super Gundam Royale Nightingale2.png|As seen on Super Gundam Royale game SD Gundam G Generation RE Nightingale.png|As seen on SD Gundam G Generation RE game SD Gundam G Generation Genesis Nightingale.jpg|As seen on SD Gundam G Generation Genesis for Nintendo Switch game Gunpla 20140909-152225.jpg|1/100 RE/100 MSN-04II Nightingale (2014): box art Expansion_Funnel_Set_for_MG_Sazabi_Ver.Ka_%26_RE100_Nightingale.jpg|Expansion Funnel Set for MG Sazabi (Ver.Ka) & RE/100 Nightingale (P-Bandai exclusive; 2015): box art Msn_04ii_2.jpg|RE 1/100 Nightingale - Top profile of finished model Ren1.jpg|RE 1/100 Nightingale - Magazine advertisement Ren2.jpg|RE 1/100 Nightingale - Release date and price Ren3.jpg|RE 1/100 Nightingale - Head and back detail Ren4.jpg|RE 1/100 Nightingale - Back detail SDCS-Nightingale.jpg|SDCS MSN-04II Nightingale (2018): box art SDCS Nightingale -Special Coating-.jpg|SDCS MSN-04II Nightingale Coating (The Gundam Base Tokyo exclusive; 2019): box art Notes and Trivia *In the original novel, the Nightingale was simply the novel's equivalent of the Sazabi, and it was first said to be the successor unit of the Sazabi in CCA-MSV. It is most often treated as the latter in games and other media. *In Super Robot Wars α2, the Nightingale has a chest-mounted mega particle cannon, similar to the one used by the Sazabi, even though this weapons is not present in the official mechanical design. **The Beltrochika's Children manga gives the Nightingale a stomach-mounted mega particle cannon. *Both Sazabi's and Nightingale's design were submitted for the movie, however the Nightingale was ultimately rejected in favour of the Sazabi. *The Nightingale has a marking on its pelvis area with "NZ99" written on it. *According to concept arts, Nightingale is named such based on legends that nightingales symbolize death. Reference External Links *MSN-04II Nightingale on MAHQ.net *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU91-wIclgU